By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
Northumberland County council’s Community Services Committee congratulated the county’s OntarioWorks staff on their first Community ID and Wellness Clinic held in November in Cobourg.
OW Manager Jennifer Glover gave special credit to caseworker Jeff Freeburn, who had the idea – and played a key role in planning and co-ordinating efforts.
“He fosters a culture of caring in all his transactions,” Glover said.
“It was a much-needed service to our communities and engaged with members of the community to create a positive impact.”
This first attempt was a low-key affair just to try out the idea. It offered an opportunity for members of the community to get help with services offered by OntarioWorks, Northumberland Community Paramedicine, Northumberland Community Legal Centre, and documentation covered by Service Ontario and Service Canada.
Those who needed transportation got it from Community Care Northumberland, and EarlyON provided on-site child care.
In all, 26 people attended and got help with 66 transactions.
Excluding staff time, the event cost $1,103.70 – $240 to Community Care for transportation, $570.65 to rent Columbus Community Hall for the event, $89.05 for snacks for those in attendance and $204 in fees for replacement of birth certificates for those unhoused members of the community who qualified for fee waivers.
They are hoping to host two more this year, one in the eastern end of the county and another in Cobourg.
Committee chair John Logel asked how they might get the word out.
“That is one of the main challenges,” Glover admitted.
They only put out one media release for the first one, but it did get picked up. They will have to put a little more planning and strategy into publicizing the next one.
